Speaking Notes for The Honourable Diane Finley
Minister of Human Resources and Social Development
Presentation at The Standing Committee on Human Resources, Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities
Ottawa
June 6, 2006
Check against delivery
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'm pleased to have been invited to speak before the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities.
I have looked forward to meeting with you. This Committee has earned an enviable reputation for proposing valuable actions and solutions to the real-life challenges facing Canadians today.
I welcome this opportunity to bring you up to date on the activities of Human Resources and Social Development or HRSD. As you can appreciate, the past few months have been a time of transition for HRSD, as it was created just last February through the consolidation of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada as well as Social Development Canada.
The new department directly touches the lives of every Canadian. Our programs, policies and partnerships support individuals in difficult times, help Canadians create opportunities and deliver services that help people across the country. Quite simply stated, HRSD is about enabling all Canadians to make choices that will allow them to live productive and rewarding lives.
The HRSD portfolio encompasses a lot of things: Employment Insurance; Workplace Skills; Learning; initiatives for children and families; persons with disabilities; and seniors; along with programs such as the Canada Pension Plan and Old Age Security; Homelessness and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. That's quite a broad range that touches on every single Canadian.
An important part of my mandate is to improve the delivery of programs and services to Canadians through Service Canada. I would like to point out some of the ways we are moving forward on this front.
We are making great strides in improving access to government information and services through new mobile and outreach services. By the end of 2006, our goal is to provide 90 percent of Canadians with access to a Service Canada point of service within 50 km of where they live.
We now have more than 125 new points of service, many in rural and remote locations that were previously underserved. We've done this through the use of mobile outreach, not investing in new bricks and mortar, but providing service in other facilities as well as through our mobile vehicles.
For example, we have a number of new outreach sites serving Aboriginal communities in Northern Canada, through which we've been able to identify a broad range of potential beneficiaries of our support programs.
Service Canada is working with a growing number of federal departments, provinces and territories to move the one-stop approach forward. This makes sense from the point of view of the citizen and provides better value to Canadian taxpayers.
For example, we are partnering with Transport Canada and Service New Brunswick to deliver Pleasure Craft Licences across Canada; we are partnering with the government of Ontario on an on-line integrated birth registration service where new parents can apply for both a birth certificate and a Social Insurance Number for their newborn. In Manitoba, we have three bilingual centres, where citizens can get services from the municipal, provincial and federal governments. Another popular service is that we now offer passports at 35 locations across Canada - and have already helped over 40,000 Canadians.
Next week, the Governments of Canada and British Columbia are co-hosting the first Deputy Minister level federal-provincial-territorial meeting on service delivery issues to look at how to work together on serving Canadians better.
While the Labour program is still part of the HRSD family, it is managed under the capable leadership of my colleague, Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn, who is with us today and will be addressing you shortly.
Our new structure was a strategic decision to respond to Canadians' expectations for streamlined government and good value for every tax dollar spent. Equally, it reflects our government's recognition that Canada's success depends on the ability of Canadians and our communities to reach their full potential.
Since forming government, we have made it clear that HRSD will continue to help individuals at all stages of their life to create opportunities. This commitment was reinforced in the Speech from the Throne and new initiatives announced in the recent Budget tabled by Finance Minister Flaherty.
Budget 2006 - Focusing on priorities
I think it would be helpful if I laid out our new initiatives in Budget 2006 and how they impact on HRSD and build on the commitments that we made to Canadians.
In looking at the challenges ahead, our department has been tasked with ensuring that Canadians have choices through more focused support to children, families, seniors, people with disabilities and their communities. At the same time, we're supporting economic growth and competitiveness through investments in post-secondary education and increased individual supports for apprenticeships and students.
I'm very proud that the Prime Minister has conferred these responsibilities on HRSD and I know that the public service is up to the challenge of delivering this very ambitious agenda.
The Government of Canada recognizes that strong families are the building blocks of society and the key to our future. That is why we are investing $5.2 billion over two years in children and families:
For children - $3.7 billion over two years in the Universal Child Care Benefit and $250 million per year for up to 25,000 new child care spaces each year, beginning in 2007.
The Universal Child Care Benefit will go directly to the parents of Canada's 2.1 million preschoolers. It will provide $100 per month for each child under six to help parents supplement their options for child care that best suit their family's needs.
The second component of our Universal Child Care Plan is our Child Care Spaces Initiative. Under this program, we want to help increase the supply of childcare spaces, but do it in a way that meets the unique demands of families who need more responsive and flexible choices.
In support of strong communities, the Budget provides for new housing trust funds for provinces and territories for affordable housing, including funds for Aboriginal people off reserve and northern housing. These housing trusts will help Canadians find a safe and affordable place to call home. These expenditures are being managed directly by the Minister of Finance.
This investment builds on approximately $2 billion per year in housing programs administered by CMHC, now part of my portfolio - that enables thousands of low-income Canadians to renovate substandard homes and obtain affordable housing.
Mr. Chair, Budget 2006 underscores that gaining skills is the best way for Canadians to access employment. Investments in education and training are critical to Canadian's future as well as to the productivity and competitiveness of our national economy.
That is why the Budget introduces a new Apprenticeship Incentive Grant that will benefit 100,000 first- and second-year apprentices, as well as two new tax measures - an Apprenticeship Job Creation Tax Credit for employers to hire new apprentices, and a new Tools Tax Deduction for employed tradespeople to help with tool costs.
For students, the Budget exempts all scholarships and bursary income from tax, introduces a textbook tax credit for both full-time and part-time students, and improves access to student loans.
To strengthen post-secondary education infrastructure, the Budget allocates $1 billion to the provinces and territories (contingent, of course, on confirmation of final financial results for 2005-2006) for critical and urgent investments.
To address our demographic challenges, I am delighted that the Budget has committed us to consult with the provinces, territories, and other stakeholders on the creation of the Canadian Agency for Assessment and Recognition of Foreign Credentials.
Mr. Chair, these priorities are broad in scope and reach, but they focus on our priorities as Canadians.
Consultations
In the coming months, we will be engaging in consultations with the provincial and territorial governments, as well as other key partners, as part of the government's approach to meeting the challenges facing Canadians. One of the most important initiatives is the Child Care Spaces Initiative, a component of Canada's Universal Child Care Plan.
Over the next six months HRSD will be consulting with provinces, territories, employers, and community and non-profit organizations to develop a plan to stimulate the creation of childcare spaces that will respond to parent's needs.
As the Minister of Human Resources and Social Development, I have also been mandated, and I quote: “…to initiate discussions this spring with the provinces and territories on the overall objectives for post secondary education and training, appropriate roles, and on developing a framework for ensuring measurable results and accountability in respect of funding support.”
Our bid to encourage apprenticeships and to support apprentices in their training will also involve discussions with the provinces and territories, employers, and unions.
Engaging Canadians will be a key feature in the development of these and other initiatives. In the same way, Mr. Chair, we will consult with Parliamentarians - people who ran for election because they want to make a difference in the life of our country - the same people who have the pulse of their communities and their constituents' best interests.
Accountability
While the Federal Accountability Act and Action Plan have yet to be approved by Parliament, my officials are taking steps to ensure that all of our department's processes, policies, and services meet these new standards of accountability. The Federal Accountability Act and Action Plan provide for a new approach to expenditure management focused on results, and value for money. I will ensure its effective implementation in my department.
Conclusion
The next 12 months will be demanding as we work with our partners and the provinces and territories to make the Budget commitments a reality for Canadians.
As someone with a professional background in helping organizations develop strategic long-term solutions to problems, I believe strongly in involving as many people as feasible so that we can hear all of their ideas and all of their perspectives. By doing that, we will have the benefit of many high-quality minds and ideas, and I believe we will come up with better solutions.
I recognize the importance of your work as individual parliamentarians, and I'm anxious to benefit from your insights as well, particularly in light of these Budget commitments and the important role that will be played by HRSD. I look forward to working with you, as we aim to help all Canadians realize their goals for a better life.
Thank you.
